Rondee.com - Free Conference Call Service [with USA blinkers on] Saturday, August 02, 2008
I'm always keen to check out web applications that might be of use at work, even if the web application in question duplicates an existing service I'm using since a) it may offer better features/pricing and b) I always like to have a back-up in case of primary service difficulties.
Teleconferencing services are one such category of application that I make regular use of. Hence I took note when Web Worker Daily mentioned Rondee, which they followed up on a few days later with Calliflower.
Rondee is a free service and registration is easy. However I was staggered when during the process I was asked to specify which timezone I was in, presumably to aid the scheduling process that is incorporated in the service, but was limited to choosing USA timezones! Do these people appreciate the web extends outside of the USA? Or that a sizeable category of conference calling is international in nature? I was tempted to abort the sign-up immediately, mindful that this small matter may actuall screw-up my ability to use the service i.e. times on the invites would be meaningless.
Looking beyond that, the service has some good features including
- upfront scheduling of recurring calls e.g. weekly conference call
- automatic recording of the call [excellent for business, both for checking back on points discussed when reviewing the minutes and allowing others to listen to the call subsequently if they weren't present.]
- ability to import your scheduled calls into calendar applications such as Google Calendar and Outlook
A frustrating feature for invitees, albeit a minor one, is that having accepted an invite, the dial-in details are shown on screen but not emailed as well for convenience - I can easily imagine there will be many invitees who will trip up and not record the details.
Sadly Rondee only offer a USA dial-in number, which means it not a service I would use unless it involved an American participant.
Labels: Conference call
posted by John Wilson @ 9:18 AM Permanent Link
newsvine
reddit
2 Comments:
-
At 7:06 PM,
said...
-
I like ConferenceTown.com , they have a ton of free features on their Free Conference Call service
-
At 7:01 PM,
said...
-
I tried Conferencetown.com, and I will say this. It is better than any free conference service that I've used in the past.
Mike McKinley,
Starlight Productions, Inc.
